James 4 Fights, Quarrels, Injustice

James 4 NIV
I watched the news, the unpeaceful protests in Baltimore, late into the night last night. Sadly, that is just a tiny fraction of the unrest in the world these days. It never ceases to amaze me that so many people will use the excuse that they seek justice to commit more injustice. Breaking the law and throwing rocks and bottles at cops is not going to promote anyone's agenda for the good. How can looting and setting other people's property on fire be justice in anyone's mind? Yet, there are quite a few who think that it is.

There is so much dissension in this world. St. James asks: "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." (vs 1-3)

We are taught by scripture that we are to love our neighbors and that doesn't mean just the people in the church. We are to love even our enemies. We are to care for them. To unjustly attack our neighbors or even our enemies is sin. To cause harm to them whether it be intentional or unintentional is sin. What we do or what we ask God for should not be for our benefit alone; because it might be pleasing to us; but, for the good of all people. 

"If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them." (vs 17) "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded." (vs 7,8)

May God help us to learn to better trust that His will is for the good of all of His children.. 

God's Peace - Pr. J

Jeremiah 13 - Unbound, Hidden, and Dirty

What happens when you do not take the time to wash something? It becomes dirty, of course. I don't care if you're not using it, if you have hidden it away. Dust, bugs, something will find its way to it and it will become dirty over time and it must be washed.

This past winter, my granddaughter received a rug for her bedroom floor. It is a large throw rug with a stiff back. It has a variety of pastel colored stripes woven into it. But, even with shaking out and vacuuming, the light colors had become quite dingy looking. It is too big to throw into a washing machine, so every so often she would spray a can of that instant rug shampoo on it before she vacuumed. It wasn't working. I would tell her the only way you are going to get it clean was to take it outside and scrub it, then hang it on the line and power wash the soap out. That was a bit more work than she was willing to put out to make the rug clean. She has better things to do, you know. Chat or message on her cell phone, window shop on the computer, watch reality shows on television, go 4-wheeling or swimming... Finally, this week, I insisted. It was no longer an option. And... when she was done, she was impressed. The rug looks like new again.

Our reading from Jeremiah 13, is sandwiched in between to references of washing or being made clean. First, the LORD tells Jeremiah to “Go and buy a linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not let it touch water.” (vs 1 NIV)  Jeremiah does this. Then the LORD tells him “Take the belt you bought and are wearing around your waist, and go now to Perath and hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.” (vs 4) That's kind of what my grandchildren do with their clothes when they're done wearing them, but they hide them under the bed. The same thing happens to their clothes as happened to Jeremiah's belt. Ruined... Destroyed... from lack of care, from lack of washing.

In the same way, says the LORD, He will ruin the pride of the people. In the act of removing the belt and hiding it in the rocks, Jeremiah, reminds the people that they, by their sinful ways, have unbound themselves from the LORD and are hiding out in dark and dirty places. Those who will not be bound to the LORD, but attempt to hide themselves from Him in some crack or crevice until they become thoroughly unclean, will be bound, indeed! But, not to Him. You will be bound to something, to someone. But, it will not be to God and it will not be for your good. The LORD will topple your pride and you will be shamed. This is the message given through Jeremiah.

Woe to you, whom God has called, and have tried to hide yourself from Him! "How long will you be unclean?" (vs 27) Do not hide from the LORD, but seek His face. Go to the source of living waters, who is Jesus the Christ, and be made clean.

"Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds,  not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Act 10:22-24)

God's Peace - Pr. J